


Not My Affair VII-A Toast to Misery

by Icarus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-11
Updated: 2006-08-11
Packaged: 2018-10-25 18:12:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10769661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icarus/pseuds/Icarus
Summary: Part seven





	Not My Affair VII-A Toast to Misery

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes:  
Yes, I am a crowd pleaser. I have nine more drabbles written out, but the response to [](http://isolde9.livejournal.com/profile)[**isolde9**](http://isolde9.livejournal.com/)'s Ron/Percy request just generated a few plot ideas that had to be written. This follows [the first five parts of Not My Affair](http://home.earthlink.net/%7Edinkbird/id3.html#Ron/Percy) and [the giftee to Isolde, the recent addition (that's not on my site yet)](http://www.livejournal.com/users/icarusancalion/85922.html#cutid1).  


* * *

Actually, Percy's place was rather nice. The last time Ron had seen it of course he wasn't exactly taking in the décor.

The kitchen was small, but had a cosy table in a little nook off to the side, and several small torches fluttered on the wall behind it in an attractive pattern. Ron didn't think Percy had any artistic sense to speak of, so assumed one of the blokes who flowed through his life -- and Ron had reason to know quite a few came and went, on a first-name only basis -- had suggested it.

Percy really was gay. Strangely, this was the first time Ron had dealt with the question by itself. Huh.

They picked over the last remnants of dinner as Percy talked animatedly about work -- work was always central to his life. But he wasn't nearly as dull as he used to be, perhaps because his opinions about how the new intern looked in Muggle clothes bubbled into the conversation, along with his really catty comments about the boss's wife. It had never been, well, personal before. Or maybe it was just the way he sat, leaning comfortably back in his chair.

"You know," Percy glanced down at his plate during a lull in the conversation. One of the torches flickered behind him. "I must admit, as badly as it all went I'm… glad it happened."

Ron's fork froze in midair. His heart skipped a beat.

"Not the - not the sex." Amazing Percy could actually say it. Ron's mind frayed in several directions. Percy delicately speared some peas. Watching him eat was bizarre: he cut everything into such tiny pieces. "It's just that we never used to talk before." Percy met his eyes and smiled.

Yes, but he was always so prickly and uptight and couldn't take a joke and --

"You were as boring as shit, Percy," Ron gestured with his fork. What the hell. Either he could be honest or he couldn't.

Percy sniggered. "Well now. It has been a while since someone's called me that." He raised a glass in a self-mocking toast.

Ron chuckled, wiped his mouth in an embarrassed gesture. "Yeah. I reckon so." He set down his fork with a clatter and answered the toast. "To complete humiliation --"

"-- and unparalleled disaster. At least something came of it." Their glasses clinked, and Percy swallowed.

After a quiet moment, a subtle smile warmed his face.

"You were pretty good you know. Fun," Percy admitted. Ron's smile faltered. "If it hadn't turned out that we were related, I definitely would have looked you up again."

"Uh. I'll take that as a compliment." Ron squirmed. "I think."

"Tsk. The look on your face…." Percy rolled his eyes. "Trust me, Ron. If I wanted to get you into bed now, we'd be eating dinner afterward."


End file.
